Every sophomore and junior will take the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test on Oct. 29, to experience the environment of the Scholastic Aptitude Test and to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship.
“By myself I have been studying various math formulas and playing with Demos to learn various ways it can help me on the math portion,” junior Elena Slaton said. “For the English portion I have been studying grammar and practicing various vocabulary.”
Including a break, the PSAT spans two and a half hours. Of the 98 questions, English makes up 54, the math section, 44.
“I think the hardest part for people taking the PSAT for the first time is the time limit,” junior Anna Tenah said. Tenah received an invite and attended the 2027 PSAT Prep Team. “It’s difficult because in typical day-to-day assignments, students aren’t used to being placed a restricted time limit, so facing it on the PSAT can be stressful, especially in addition to the normal anxiety of taking a test.”
However, as the test is now taken digitally in the Bluebook app, students have unlimited access to full length PSATs and SATs for practice purposes.
“I strongly recommend that any student who wants to improve their score do as much practice as they can,” IB coordinator and History of the Americas teacher Kate Hauenstein said. Hauenstein leads half of the PSAT prep group, along with geometry and algebra 2 teacher Robert Esquivel. “However, my recommendation is don’t just take a practice test. You’re going to maximize your score if you then look at what you missed and reflect. Are you missing questions because you’re rushing or because you’re going to slow? It’s that reflection piece that really makes a difference.”
In Bluebook, students are given highlighting and strikethrough tools, as well as a Desmos graphing calculator. Hauenstein suggests students use each application as often as possible in order to properly process the information.
“Attending the Class of 2027 PSAT Team has been extremely helpful for me,” Tenah said. “It not only allowed me to practice real questions, but also to learn the ‘tricks’ and strategies within the test. I’ve also enjoyed the free tutoring through Schoolhouse for the same reasons. I’ve also read more classical literature to help grow my vocabulary skills.”
Students will be given access to scores 2-4 weeks after taking the PSAT, thus determining whether they qualified as National Merit Scholars or not.
“It’s not the end of the world if you do badly, you still have opportunities to redo it but still try your best,” junior Juliet Miller, an active member of the 2027 PSAT Prep Team, said. “If you do really well, you can get even more help for next time and that will seriously help you in getting into a good college. Overall, don’t beat yourself up over it if you do bad, but definitely don’t brush it off. Be a happy medium.”
